Alternate reality
by planet p
Summary: The Doctor and Rose find themselves in an alternate reality; features Nine and Rose, among others.


**Alternate reality** by planet p

**Disclaimer** I don't own _Doctor Who_ or any of its characters. I don't own _You Baby _(sung by Jackie Trent).

**Author's Notes **Written in 2006. Lacking an ending.

* * *

The TARDIS took a sudden jolt. Rose screamed in horror. The world seemed to go out of phase for a split second, in which all sound ceased, before coming back into focus. The Doctor disentangled him from the console and dashed over to the young girl to see that she wasn't hurt. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't be absurd, Rose Tyler, that scared me too." He helped her to her feet. "You okay?"

Rose smiled shyly. "I am now." She turned to gaze at the console. "What was that all about?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Wish I knew."

Rose shivered. "D'you think it was serious? It felt really weird…"

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders reassuringly and they strode towards the console together. The Doctor was frowning. He had that look in his blue eyes that in Rose Tyler's mind spelt trouble. "Hmm…"

Rose gazed up at his troubled expression. "What do you mean 'hmm'?"

The Doctor smiled down at the young woman, shrugged away the worry in her voice. "Just thinking, 's all."

Rose frowned. "Thinking, huh? Hmm!" She crossed her arms and turned away from him. The Doctor mock scowled, his face sad in a boyish way. Rose knew he was playing, but it still made her smile. She turned and shoved him in the arm playfully. "I'm not buying that sad little boy act from you! I get enough of that from Mickey."

"I don't know, Rose, but something just doesn't feel right anymore," he told her seriously.

Rose frowned. "You felt it too, then?"

He nodded gravely. "I did."

Rose sniffed, emulating his grave mood. The Doctor started pushing all sorts of buttons on the console. "What… What are we doing?"

"We're going home until I can figure this out."

"Home?"

The Doctor turned to the girl. "Earth."

Rose blushed. "Oh…" She stared at her runners. "I'm sorry…"

The Doctor pushed a few more buttons, punching in the co-ordinates for Earth. "Don't be."

Rose hated that glum sound in his voice, his stubborn rejection towards his feelings on the subject, the coldness with which he was suddenly seized. Rose recognized this as his professional detachment, although it did leave her wondering how one could be professionally unemotional when their whole planet – their whole people – had been destroyed and they were the last. She sniffed once more but offered no comment. Instead she directed her thoughts towards the fact that she was going home.

* * *

The TARDIS materialised in its favourite spot by the Powell Estate. Rose was the first to emerge, frowning up at the clouded sky. The Doctor followed her out and pulled the door shut with a snap. Rose turned to him. "It seems the weather has followed us." The Doctor frowned. "You and your grumpy mood," Rose explained in a whisper and dashed off up some stairs towards her mum's flat. The Doctor stared up at the sky and sighed.

Jackie was out. Rose rolled her eyes. She pulled out her key and turned it in the lock, ready to push open the door. She frowned and pushed again. The door didn't budge. "She changed the lock," Rose explained, her frown deepening. She spun on her heel. Then she smiled. "I need a coffee!" She took the Doctor's arm and marched him off with her.

* * *

They stood at the counter of the diner, Rose tapping her fingers upon the yellow laminex surface. A twenty-something boy took his place behind the counter to serve them. Rose had the impression he was a very impatient type. "Um," Rose's eyes flicked towards the menu on the wall for some unexplained reason. "Yeah – two black coffees, thanks."

He boy rolled his eyes, popping the gum he was chewing. "Oi," he shouted to someone in one of the back rooms. A young woman peeped her head around the corner. "Two black coffees, and hurry up about it. And I don't want to see talking to your boyfriend on that stupid mobile or I'll confiscate it. We straight?"

The girl blushed. "Straight as a tack." The boy frowned approvingly and turned back to his customers. The girl rolled her eyes behind his back and stuck her tongue out.

Rose smiled faintly and handed the boy the money.

Rose and the Doctor took a seat by the window. The Doctor picked up the menu and scanned down it, bored. Rose looked across at a dark-haired couple sitting a short way away. They were probably in their forties. Rose smirked. They were acting like teenagers. The woman kept blushing and she had that shy schoolgirl smile. The man told her something that made her burst into a fit of giggling. She threw her head back and then looked back to the man, smiling as though she was on something. She rested her head on the table in an effort to stop giggling, but she kept shaking her head. Her attempt seemed to be failing miserably. The Doctor looked up now. He frowned and turned to see what Rose was smirking about. He suddenly looked very angry, which Rose couldn't figure out. He got to his feet and stormed over. Rose jumped to her feet and seized his arm. He shrugged her off.

"No, don't make me! Please. I beg you, don't you dare. You know I can't say no to you. Please, I'm terrible at it."

The man put on a sad voice. He frowned. "Please?"

The woman looked up now. She rolled her eyes, cleaning her back teeth with her tongue. "I don't know why I'm such a sucker!" The man couldn't help but smile at this. The woman frowned suspiciously, she started to tap her hand on her leg. "Oh, you know I've been wanting you my whole life through, and now that you're my guy, I'm gonna live and die – for only you! Baby, now you're gonna know all the ways I find to thrill you so. You're gonna see – there's a lifetime of love in me – just for you baby. You, baby. You, baby. Only you. Ooo ooo, only you!"

The Doctor had stopped dead. Rose stared back at him frantically. The Doctor didn't look her in the eye. He continued on his way, stopping by the table. "Why are you here?" he demanded harshly. The woman frowned. She looked around at the Doctor.

"Pardon? Sorry, honey, wasn't paying attention," she rolled her eyes, "Silly old me!" She stared back at him patiently, smiling a funny sort of one-sided smile that meant she was listening.

"Why are you here?" he demanded in that same harsh tone, a terrible hate glaring from his eyes. Rose wanted to disappear. She couldn't understand the Doctor's strange behaviour. The woman seemed not to notice either of these things. She smiled properly now, flashing her pretty teeth.

"Holiday!" She turned back to the man and stuck her tongue out as though sharing some private joke.

The Doctor didn't let up. "Holiday!" He laughed. It scared Rose. She took a step back.

"Yup!" The woman bit her lip and frowned suddenly. "Oh, um, you know how it is – can't go without my coffee hype. Elddir thinks I'm crazy!" She turned back to the man and stuck her tongue out. She put on a babyish voice. "Crazy, crazy, crazy!"

"I'm not frigging stupid!" the Doctor told her, raising his voice now.

The woman frowned. She blinked, but did not raise her voice, she wasn't even cross. "Now don't go getting all uppity with me, young man. You obviously came here to tell me something. Get to the point."

"You…! You…!" The Doctor was trying to say something, only words didn't seem enough to express his anger and disgust.

The man known as Elldir stood up now. He gave the woman a brief smile and turned to the Doctor. "You are of the home world? Why didn't you just say so?" He smiled kindly.

Rose had the impression the both of them must have been on something not to notice how mad the Doctor was with them. The woman jumped up and dashed around the table to greet him. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. She turned her companion excitedly. She was practically jumping up and down from happiness. "It's the Doctor!" she told him with a wide smile.

Elddir frowned. He sighed. "Suppose we're busted then, huh?"

The woman tossed her head in a girlish manner. "I confess – we're not really on holiday, we've been exiled."

Rose frowned. "Hang on… Hang on," she began, "You're from the Doctor's planet?"

The woman turned to Rose now. "Yes! Correct!" She jumped up and down as though she were a contestant on a game show. "Gallifrey."

Smack! The Doctor had slapped her. The woman reeled back, holding her face where he had slapped her. She frowned, confusion and hurt shining out of her dark eyes. "Cut the crap, Rani! Tell us why you're really here? With him no less?" He scowled in Elddir's direction.

"You think… You think…" She turned to Elddir, who had dashed over to comfort her. "He thinks we're here to… to… to do something evil." She sounded like she would burst into tears any moment. She turned back to the Doctor. "I can't believe you!" she stormed, her voice shaking with hurt. She hic-cupped and turned away from the Doctor and buried her head in Elddir's shoulder. She started to sob. "He thinks we're like them."

Elddir scowled, staring down at the Rani sadly. He frowned. Lifting the Rani's chin, he gazed into her eyes. "He's not from this reality," he whispered kindly.

The Rani hic-cupped again, her face wet with tears. She looked across at the Doctor sadly. She didn't say anything, just gazed back at him for a moment before burying her head once more in her friend's shoulder. "What's going on?" Rose demanded. She studied the Doctor with wide eyes. "I thought you said you were the last?"

The Doctor scowled darkly. The Rani gasped. "Gallifrey was destroyed in your reality?" She detached herself from her friend and took up the Doctor's hands. "I'm so sorry."

The Doctor wasn't buying it. Rose wondered what these two had done that was so bad he wouldn't even look at the woman as she spoke to him. "Don't touch me!" he spat and turned on his heel and stormed off. The Rani made to follow.

"Drummer!" Elddir seized her hand. She turned back to him, sadness in her eyes.

"We've got to explain," she told him in a miserable voice.

"No, leave him be. It will not make any difference to the way he feels. You know how he gets."

The woman nodded. She hugged the man close to her. Rose stood for a while in shock. She turned from the pair and found the Doctor by the window once again. She sat down opposite him. "Doctor, who are those two people? Why are you so angry with them?"

"Rose Tyler, they're evil!"

Rose bit her lip, saw the hatred in his eyes, felt it in his voice. "Don't yell at me," she whispered.

The Doctor hit his head on the table. "Oh, I've been such an idiot! Forgive me, Rose?" he spoke to the table.

Rose stood and sat down beside him. She patted his back. "I already have," she whispered.

He looked up from the table and hugged her. She smiled faintly. "It's just all so wrong!"

Rose continued patting his back. "I know, Doctor, but it's okay now."

* * *

"So we're in an alternate reality? You think they can help us get back home… to our reality, I mean?" The Doctor shrugged. "I know you still don't trust them," the girl began, "but please? Trust me?"

The Doctor looked at his boots. "Could do," he replied indifferently.

"So we're gonna ask them?"

"I guess so."

Rose got to her feet and placed her empty coffee mug down. "Great." The Doctor stood up also, dreading every minute he had to spend around those two. Rose frowned and turned to him, panicked. "Oh, no! Where are they now? They've gone! They're not here! Oh no!"

The Doctor took her arm. "Rose? Rose! Calm down!"

Rose took deep calming breaths. "Yes, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded. "Better?"

Rose nodded. "Much better."

The little bell above the door jingled and a small dark-haired girl dashed inside and headed for the ice-cream refrigerators. The dark-haired woman ran to catch her daughter up. "Oh, no, honey, not ice-cream! It's freezing out there." The girl stuck her tongue out.

"I'm not cold," the thirteen-year-old told her mother matter-of-factly.

"Honey, take a look outside."

The girl crossed her arms obstinately. "I don't care. I'm still not cold!"

The Rani shook her head. "Lola, please don't start. I've got a terrible headache. I've already had enough people yelling at me today."

Lola scowled, sliding open the fridge door and emerging with some ice-cream she liked. "Like who?! That stupid boy – what's his name? – Robbie, was picking on me again. I just wanted to punch the stupid little tosser!"

The Rani hissed disapprovingly. "Lola! Your language is less than impressive for a young lady!"

"Can it, mum! I'm not a young lady and you know it!"

"Lola!"

"Lola, Lola, Lola!" The girl stormed off towards the counter to pay for her ice-cream, adding a few packets of bubble-gum and a soft-drink to her purchased items.

Her mother stomped over to her. "You can't-"

She was cut off by her daughter. "I'm a teenager and I'll eat and talk how I like! Unless you want me to start talking Gallifreyan instead?" The woman backed down, holding her head. Her nose started to bleed and blood ran down into her mouth, staining her lips a dark red. "Gawd, mum! You're crazy! Go see a head doctor or something! Why do you keep doing that? You know blood gives me the creeps!"

The woman turned away from her daughter and pulled a tissue out of her sleeve which she wiped her nose on. The bell above the door sounded again. The woman looked up startled and quickly turned to her daughter. Elddir strode over. "Lola being a pain again?"

The woman nodded and rolled her eyes, stowing the tissue back in her sleeve. "As usual!"

Lola spun around. She blurted out something in what Rose guessed was Gallifreyan. "Lola do speak English."

Lola scowled at her mother although it had been the man who had said this. "Mum's being such a bitch! Can't you just tell her to lay off me already? Just cos she doesn't like my bf!" The man frowned. "My boyfriend, daddy!" the girl almost bellowed.

"She has a boyfriend?" Elddir turned to the woman. "Isn't she a bit young to have a boyfriend already?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "This is apparently normal for Earth, as I was told by her school teacher."

Elddir turned to his daughter, exasperated. He shook his head. The girl paid her money and the group turned and headed for the door in silence.

So they had a daughter. Rose wondered if they were married. Come to think of it she wasn't even sure the Doctor's people got married. She frowned. "Hey! Erm, excuse me!"

The two adults stopped. Their daughter kept on walking. She only stopped at the door when she noticed they were not with her. She rolled her eyes. "Youse two! I'm gonna miss my show!"

Rose hurried over. "I, um, hello again!"

The woman nodded. Elddir looked across at his daughter and shook his head. She stomped her feet a bit and came storming over. "I hate you two!" she scowled under her breath.

"We were wondering if you could help us with something?" Rose asked timidly.

Lola was looking suspicious. "You know these two freaks?" Her father gave her a look that clearly said that her behaviour was out of line and she should shut up before she ended up grounded.

"Help you?" the man asked, amused.

Rose could understand why he might be less than impressed. The woman glared over at him. "Yes, of course," she replied.

The Doctor finally looked up from his boots. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Lola rolled her eyes. "Gawd, mum, get over yourself!" Elddir stared at his daughter angrily.

The woman reached a hand out for one of his hands. "It's no bother," she told him, "She won't have to put up with me for much longer anyhow. I've grown tired of trying to teach her some manners. Let her find out for herself where that sort of attitude gets her. I really couldn't be bothered."

Elddir frowned. Lola interrupted before he could say anything. "You think you're so God damn special – just cos you're dying! God, I hate you both!" She stormed off, slamming the door.

The Doctor frowned. He looked away from the angry girl. "You're dying?"

The Rani nodded slightly. "It doesn't matter. There are more important things to be seen to right now, such as getting you two home." Rose failed to see how it couldn't matter when you were dying. "It's not contagious," the woman told them, "I was working on some research back home when I contracted the illness. It is of Dalek creation. And as you very well know the Daleks are… let's just say they are not ignorant to our physiology. The illness is specifically engineered to kill. It does not allow for second chances. This is why it was of such great importance that the cure be discovered. Luckily this was done. There was however one tiny complication. The drug we designed was as a preventative, not an actual cure. Once the illness is contracted there is no way of stopping its effects. If you are wanting to know why I was exiled it is because of this. The High Council had saw fit to condone experiments on the few of the Dalek… people… we had captured. I did not agree. I was dismissed as a heretic. They said I was siding with the enemy. They gave me the option to leave or to be terminated. I chose exile, stupidly. One day my people will be destroyed also, and I will have done nothing to prevent it. And as for that look – no I am not afraid of death. We must all die someday."

The Doctor didn't say anything. Rose wondered how Elddir put up with such a stubborn woman. It would have bothered her if someone she loved had told her they were not afraid of dying because dying was just a normal thing that happened.


End file.
